TOPPLED

07.22.12

Paterno Statue Ordered Down

Gene J. Puskar / AP Photo

A statue of onetime unimpeachable former coach Joe Paterno outside Penn State’s football stadium will come down, the university said Sunday. A report into the school’s response to sex-abuse allegations leveled against disgraced former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky found that Paterno was one of several top-level Penn State employees who helped conceal suspicions against the convicted offender when they first emerged more than 10 years ago. The statue was covered with a blue tarp Sunday as construction equipment was moved in to take it down. The report found that Paterno was aware of Sandusky’s activities in 2001 but chose not to report them.